Our water hustles and growing up in Accra, Ghana
All through my childhood, adolescence and youth, NEVER have I heard of a city that could run out of water. With that said, in the course of my education – Islamic and secular, I have learnt about the importance of water as a resource.
Growing up in Accra, Ghana, the water routine by my siblings and I was paying to fetch at a nearby standpipe and filling a barrel in the corner of our kitchen – that water we drank, used for cooking, laundry, bathing etc.
Of course I recall the days when the taps were dried. The days we cut miles on foot with buckets and pans in search for water. I repeat, never did we hear that the water could run out and we’d be without the resource – classed as a basic human right by the United Nations.
Those were the years preceding when we moved into a new home, where be bought and stored water in a large poly tank. Shortly after, we got connected to the national supply at the time the Ghana Water and Sewage Company (GWSC) now the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
Roll on the years, I have the pleasure of living away from Accra. Destination Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo. It’s been two years since February 2015 and I can count the number of times that I have been without water.
This is a Pointe Noire that does not compare in many respects to South Africa’s iconic city of Cape Town, but guess what? Cape Town is in the eye of the storm over water. Their taps are scheduled to dry up in the much talked about ‘Day Zero,’ projected date April 12, 2018.
What then is going on in Cape Town?
Experts say their taps will dry up in April 2018, the date has since been moved to July 9. That they will have close to no water and so radical water usage is being advocated whiles the local authority puts up water collection points where people will collect daily water quotas.
Cape Town for the records was a host city during the 2010 World Cup, it is a key tourist destination in the country and is located at almost the bottom tip of the continent. Cape Town is a city of an estimated four million inhabitants.
Mayor Athol Trollip of neighbouring Nelson Mandela Bay said in an interview: “We need all hands on deck. We are facing a massive challenge, which can only be overcome if we are all part of the solution.”
The view of experts on the causes of the crisis involves the following: Climate change (which Donald Trump partly disputes) and a booming population. Dam levels continue to fall and failing rains are compounding the situation.
The ultimate solution and the Lord of the rains
With the rain variable, let me introduce the divine drift. Much of this is also an issue to do with nature. The earth we are told is covered by way more water than by land. Water is man’s most indispensable resource in the general scheme of events.
Water then is a blessing. One of million others bestowed on mankind by Allah. The incontestible dependence of Cape Towners on nature is now more than ever poignant. There is a Water Disaster Plan to contain the crisis.
That is what people should ordinarily do, plan! But we know that man proposes and God disposes – the Quran tells us that Allah is the best of planners. If HE wills it’d rain and fill up the dams and Day Zero will come to zero. Yet, we cannot lose sight of Allah’s trials for man – may we be of those that pass these tests.
What are the city authorities proposing?
Under the Water Disaster Plan, the authorities have all but resigned themselves to the reality that the taps will dry up before or on the projected date. As above stated, there are water collection points being built across the city.
In more technical schemes, they are pushing down the velocity and water supply pressure to save water, meters are to be repaired plus an overhaul of the water supply infrastructure – maintenance and replacement.
Large-scale users of water are to be ‘policed’ more. Authorities are looking at desalination as a longterm solution wary of the costs, use of aquifers have also been very key in deliberations. Then there is a call center that is expected to interface with the public on pressing issues.
What is an aquifer? Simply an “underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells and springs etc.” (Wordweb)
So then, a resource as basic as water has moved from being one that rests on affordability but more on availability. It has shifted from being a symbol of privilege and bonus to being an ultimate leveler. It is as the News24 portal put it, ‘a matter of life and death.’
People are tasked to be judicious in their use of water. Some of the ‘weird’ but real reports indicate that people have cut down on showers. People are harvesting used water for reuse – for example, collect bath water and use to flush toilets.
Women have given up washing of their hair. People have been told to stop using the shower but rather fetch a quantity of water for their ‘modest’ baths. No one is to hoard water because everyone is sharing what there is available in the lead up to and post ‘Day Zero.’
We must as a people be grateful for the countless blessings Allah has bestowed on us. Whiles at it, let's not forget to pray for people who find themselves in chaotic zones across the world. May Allah grant them and us all relief. Ameeen.
All through my childhood, adolescence and youth, NEVER have I heard of a city that could run out of water. With that said, in the course of my education – Islamic and secular, I have learnt about the importance of water as a resource.
Growing up in Accra, Ghana, the water routine by my siblings and I was paying to fetch at a nearby standpipe and filling a barrel in the corner of our kitchen – that water we drank, used for cooking, laundry, bathing etc.
Of course I recall the days when the taps were dried. The days we cut miles on foot with buckets and pans in search for water. I repeat, never did we hear that the water could run out and we’d be without the resource – classed as a basic human right by the United Nations.
Those were the years preceding when we moved into a new home, where be bought and stored water in a large poly tank. Shortly after, we got connected to the national supply at the time the Ghana Water and Sewage Company (GWSC) now the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
Roll on the years, I have the pleasure of living away from Accra. Destination Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo. It’s been two years since February 2015 and I can count the number of times that I have been without water.
This is a Pointe Noire that does not compare in many respects to South Africa’s iconic city of Cape Town, but guess what? Cape Town is in the eye of the storm over water. Their taps are scheduled to dry up in the much talked about ‘Day Zero,’ projected date April 12, 2018.
What then is going on in Cape Town?
Experts say their taps will dry up in April 2018, the date has since been moved to July 9. That they will have close to no water and so radical water usage is being advocated whiles the local authority puts up water collection points where people will collect daily water quotas.
Cape Town for the records was a host city during the 2010 World Cup, it is a key tourist destination in the country and is located at almost the bottom tip of the continent. Cape Town is a city of an estimated four million inhabitants.
Mayor Athol Trollip of neighbouring Nelson Mandela Bay said in an interview: “We need all hands on deck. We are facing a massive challenge, which can only be overcome if we are all part of the solution.”
The view of experts on the causes of the crisis involves the following: Climate change (which Donald Trump partly disputes) and a booming population. Dam levels continue to fall and failing rains are compounding the situation.
The ultimate solution and the Lord of the rains
With the rain variable, let me introduce the divine drift. Much of this is also an issue to do with nature. The earth we are told is covered by way more water than by land. Water is man’s most indispensable resource in the general scheme of events.
Water then is a blessing. One of million others bestowed on mankind by Allah. The incontestible dependence of Cape Towners on nature is now more than ever poignant. There is a Water Disaster Plan to contain the crisis.
That is what people should ordinarily do, plan! But we know that man proposes and God disposes – the Quran tells us that Allah is the best of planners. If HE wills it’d rain and fill up the dams and Day Zero will come to zero. Yet, we cannot lose sight of Allah’s trials for man – may we be of those that pass these tests.
What are the city authorities proposing?
Under the Water Disaster Plan, the authorities have all but resigned themselves to the reality that the taps will dry up before or on the projected date. As above stated, there are water collection points being built across the city.
In more technical schemes, they are pushing down the velocity and water supply pressure to save water, meters are to be repaired plus an overhaul of the water supply infrastructure – maintenance and replacement.
Large-scale users of water are to be ‘policed’ more. Authorities are looking at desalination as a longterm solution wary of the costs, use of aquifers have also been very key in deliberations. Then there is a call center that is expected to interface with the public on pressing issues.
What is an aquifer? Simply an “underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells and springs etc.” (Wordweb)
So then, a resource as basic as water has moved from being one that rests on affordability but more on availability. It has shifted from being a symbol of privilege and bonus to being an ultimate leveler. It is as the News24 portal put it, ‘a matter of life and death.’
People are tasked to be judicious in their use of water. Some of the ‘weird’ but real reports indicate that people have cut down on showers. People are harvesting used water for reuse – for example, collect bath water and use to flush toilets.
Women have given up washing of their hair. People have been told to stop using the shower but rather fetch a quantity of water for their ‘modest’ baths. No one is to hoard water because everyone is sharing what there is available in the lead up to and post ‘Day Zero.’
We must as a people be grateful for the countless blessings Allah has bestowed on us. Whiles at it, let's not forget to pray for people who find themselves in chaotic zones across the world. May Allah grant them and us all relief. Ameeen.
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